Chapter 457: In The Heart of Star Field

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　“If that’s the case, these people are practicing from scratch then?” Shi Mu said slowly.

　　“Like the old man had said before, to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, they must all be very persistent. To put it bluntly, if you want to continue practicing the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art in your current state, the possibility of reaching the ninth phase is negligible. For the rest of my life, I am afraid that I will stop at the second or third phase. In the end, there may even be tragedy or death. It’s better to stay in the first phase as it’s the first time. How about you let this old man help you abolish this mysterious art?” the elder ape said with a dignified manner as he looked at Shi My.

　　“Abolish the Mysterious Art…? How?” Shi Mu furrowed his brows.

　　“How is none of your concern. All you need to know is that once it is abolished, your level of cultivation will fall to the next level. However, as compensation, you can choose to practice here but you should know that the experience of the White Azure Ape elders is fixed. Any one of them is enough to make you traverse this Star Field,” the green-robed ape waved his hands.

　　Shi Mu heard this but did not speak and seemed to hesitate.

　　“If you can’t bear the first phase and want to continue the cultivation of this mysterious art, I shall give you a token. You can use it to participate in the selection of disciples of the Holy Land of Qinglan without any guarantee,” the elder azure ape said as he saw the look on Shi Mu’s face. His eyes flashed and continued to speak.

　　The old ape’s hand flashed with blue light and a rectangular blue token appeared. He handed it over to Shi Mu and his gaze locked onto him.

　　The rectangular token looked like it was made out of sapphire with a stream of light flowing inside it. The surface was vividly carved with a dragon wrapped around golden phoenix wings.

　　On the surface of the token was a towering leafy tree. The bottom of the tree was engraved with the word “Qinglan” in ancient characters.

　　“Predecessor, is there any other technique more powerful than the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art?” Shi Mu thought for a while before asking.

　　“Haha…” The elder azure ape could not stop himself from laughing.

　　Shi Mu did not interrupt but quietly watched the ape.

　　“I can tell you clearly that the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art is one of the strongest techniques of the Holy Land of Qinglan. Even if you search the whole world, it is one of the greatest supernatural powers a body can possess. Although my ancestors had several other great supernatural powers, none of them could be compared with the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art,” the elder ape shook his head as he replied.

　　“Then I choose to continue cultivating the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.” This time, Shi Mu did not hesitate too much and replied directly.

　　“Oh, are you sure you want to continue the cultivation? You are not afraid of the ultimate death?” the elder azure ape spoke clearly to Shi Mu with slight doubt.

　　“I am afraid, but I am more afraid of becoming a coward who would not even try to become stronger. I once promised someone that I would be the strongest person in the world. Whether it is on this planet or in the Starfield, I have to be the strongest!” Shi Mu spoke faintly but his tone was firm.

　　Seeing Shi Mu’s answer, the elder azure ape no longer asked anything more and instead laughed loudly.

　　“What’s so funny?” Shi Mu frowned.

　　“It’s good, very good! You, human, have made the right choice. It doesn’t matter if you choose to give up, you are already a cold dead body at this moment. I would not hesitate to kill you right here. In my opinion, how can a person who did not have the guts to practice the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art be a true descendant of the White Ape? It would not only be a shame to live the rest of your life but it would taint the name of the white ape ancestors. Haha…” the ape said with a sigh of relief, his eyes filled with glory.

　　With a burst of laughter, the elder azure ape’s body suddenly straightened. The originally thin figure slowly rose.

　　Shi Mu only saw relief in his eyes. And looking a little closer, he noticed the azure ape was floating slightly above ground.

　　“Predecessor, you…”

　　Before Shi Mu could speak, the elder azure ape was smiling at himself as he waved his sleeves and a roll of blue light shone out.

　　Shi Mu felt the light flash in front of him, and suddenly there was a heavy weight in his head and he fainted back to sleep.

　　It was unknown how much time had elapsed when Shi Mu finally woke up.

　　He shook his head and after a certain amount of time and found himself lying on a circular man-sized array surrounded by darkness. It was apparent that he was not in space or in the sky.

　　Pa!

　　As soon as Shi Mu sat up, he heard a crisp sound in his ear. When he reached out and touched it, he had one more thing in his hand. Looking closer, it was the picking token engraved with the towering ancient wood.

　　He put the token in front of him and collected himself.

　　Standing up, he looked around and found himself at the end of a closed narrow space. The dim light showed it to be vaguely like a hall.

　　The hollow of the hall was without much decoration and looked a bit rudimentary.

　　Not far behind him was a tall door. At the bottom of the other end were some stone pillars in the shadows which seemed to be a transmission array.

　　Shi Mu walked slowly to the front of the high hall and stretched out his hands to push open the door to the temple.

　　Even with a push, the door of the temple did not budge at all.

　　Shi Mu focused more strength into his hand and pushed hard til the door finally opened.

　　In the dimly lit hall, a red glow suddenly appeared. Behind Shi Mu was a red flame surrounding the shadow of the Crimson Flame Ape.

　　Shi Mu’s hands pressed against the temple door and the huge hands of the Crimson Flame Ape had his hands on the door too. Both of them pushed it with full force at the same time.

　　Buzz!

　　Two huge golden figures suddenly appeared at the door of the temple, glaring. Holding a square plaque in one hand, they simultaneously released a golden light.

　　As soon as the ray appeared, Shi Mu felt a huge force that pushed him back along with the Crimson Flame Ape.

　　The power was as great as the sea, and made Shi Mu’s heart race. He knew that it would be difficult to compete at his current level of strength.

　　Shi Mu immediately left and walked to the wall on the side of the main hall. He reached out and touched it. It looked like an ordinary stone wall but felt cool to his palm.

　　He revealed his knowledge to the stone wall through contact, yet the knowledge bounced back and could not penetrate the wall.

　　Shi Mu was not surprised and continued to test it on the four walls. After discovering that the results were all the same, he had to give up and walked toward the other side of the circle.

　　Previously, due to the dim light and long distance, he did not see it clearly, but now he discovered that the layout of this array were almost exactly the same as the ancient transmission array of the previous forbidden land, albeit on a smaller scale.

　　Shi Mu stared at this array of observations for a while and found that there was nothing unusual about it. After that, he immediately stepped forward.

　　Ka ka!

　　Before waiting for Shi Mu to do something, a black station in the center of the squadron rose up and a large white light appeared on the surface. At the same time, in the void of the hall, a burst of intensive chanting sounds suddenly appeared and a stone pillar around it continued to light up.

　　At the next moment, Shi Mu felt that the soles of the feet had fluctuate drastically. After an instant, a white light flashed in front of him and his figure disappeared.

　　Unlike the last thrilling transmission process, Shi Mu did not experience any fatal crisis this time. However, after feeling a whirlwind, he appeared in another strange environment.

　　Here, the dark sky was low and there were only a few stars.

　　He looked around and found himself on a huge platform surrounded by a number of transmission arrays and hundreds of stone pillars standing still like a forest.

　　In the Stone Pillared Forest were various figures of varying heights. There were some people on the outside of the platform while some gathered on the spot to form a small open-air market. It seemed like they were selling something.

　　These figures on the distribution platform looked strange. Most of them bore the characteristics of humans and monsters, which really opened Shi Mu’s eyes.

　　For example, some had a flame-coloured body with a large crocodile head on the neck and a long tail on the tail covered with diamond-shaped scales. Some had a human body but with neck that was squatting like a python’s head spit out from the front, which was rather strange.

　　Shi Mu gave a stern gaze as his heart was slightly surprised.

　　Among these people, the person with the strongest Qlqi had achieved Heaven-Ranked though there was only a few. The vast majority were still at the level of Earth-rank. Some were even below congenital to the point that it was not found.

　　After the appearance of a certain transmission array, except for a few attracted by the peripheral stalls, most people did not mean to stay here for too long. After awhile, they rush into the transmission array as the white light flashed and everyone disappeared with it.

　　Shi Mu observed for a while, only to find that the array under his feet was located in a remote corner of the platform. There were few people in the vicinity of the array and it seemed a bit deserted.

　　He turned back and looked at the spell and stepped away as he walked towards the middle of it.

　　After spending about half an hour, after a random walk on the huge platform, he finally got a general understanding of it.

　　This should be some Starfield Transmission Array of another field, the distribution matrix here should be the gateway to each planet. These seemingly weird people might have came from various other planets.

　　When these people communicated with their peers, they would say some strange words but if they communicated with non-native people, they would speak in another language. After a careful comparison with Shi Mu, the latter language should have been discovered. It was a universal language.

　　In addition, these interstellar travelers would use the transmission array here to bring them from their own planet. As they were in the array, a black charm would be withdrawn and transformed into a ray of black light protecting one’s body before they had been transported.

　　He saw this and suddenly thought about it.

　　It seemed that in the big world of the Star Field, these low-ranked warriors and warlock would use the same method to travel in the Star Field.

　　Then, Shi Mu smiled slightly.

　　It seemed that the stone that was of a fist-sized he had treasured had finally had its use after all these time.

　　With this in mind, he took a step and walked towards the open-air market outside the platform.